Zhou Bao/Cultivation Techniques
Special Techniques He who practiced Internal Strength needed to absorb the essence of the world, and indeed there were countless types of world essences, possessing all kinds of properties. These innumerable types of pneuma could be divided into two main categories; one type was Spiritual Qi, and the other was Evil Qi. The type of Qi that could be absorbed and transformed into internal power was very rare, and this type of easily absorbed and transformed Qi was called Spiritual Qi. Its typical property was mild, and even the essence that could be absorbed and transformed into the pneuma of Fire Attribute through the Ignis Skill was rather mild. However, the essence which could be taken into the body as though drinking water was mostly Spiritual Qi. Evil Qi was that kind of world essence which could not be transformed into Internal Qi. Evil Qi was just like seething hot boiling water which would burn you if you just touched it, not to mention drank it. Evil Qi had fierce properties, but at the same time, its power could not be compared to the kind of world essence which was mild. Thus, in order to utilize this fierce essence of the world, a special technique was needed. The special technique passed down since antiquity integrated every method and every martial arts skill of each type of Internal Qi. It combined all the traits of Evil Qi to create a kind of secret skill which could transform the fierce Evil Qi that fighters could not safely absorb into a fixed form and contain it within their bodies, tendons, and meridians. Because the pneuma that the special technique transformed into was of unparalleled ferocity, it was an almost impossible task to hold it inside one's body for one's own use of Internal Qi. But through the special technique, it was possible to solve this annoyance and made it stay in a fixed form within one's body. Techniques (Outer Strength/ External Strength Exercises) Mental Cultivation Skills/Methods (Inner Strength/ Inner Qi Exercises) Secret Skills The so-called secret skill was an independent branch of martial arts skills in the world. Each kind of secret skill basically needed to coordinate with unique ways of using Qi. How to use strength was called Technique as well as how to use Qi was called Mental Cultivation Skill. The essence of secret skills was combining the Internal Qi and strength and use them in special ways. In a sense, it was something like playing arcade games. A compositive technique was the most powerful one. The Three Greats of secret skills were respectively: Great Power, Great Harm, and Great Consumption. Great Power explains itself. A fighter with secret skills would be endowed with the ability to challenge the fighters in a higher level. For example, a Level Four fighter with secret skills might defeat a Level Five without secret skills, and even a Level Six fighter. Of course, it would not be so easy if the opponent had also mastered the same skills. Great Harm referred to the use of secret skills that would harm the body. These powerful secret skills would generally cause damage to the body after they had been used, and could not be used again for a long period of time in the future, otherwise, they would hurt the body. If they were forced to be used, they would probably cause a life-long disability. Great Consumption, was the same as Great Burden—it would make the Internal Qi of the body exhausted once the secret skill was used. Therefore, generally speaking, no matter what kind of secret skills, there was only one chance to succeed, and if it failed, it was difficult to have enough power to battle again, and even escape would become a luxury. So even a fighter with a certain kind of secret skill would not use it until the last minute. And with respect to the secret skills, as the name suggests, they were secret, and each kind of secret skill had its own unique method, and so they were only mastered by a tiny minority. Moreover, the more powerful the secret skill was, the more secret its practice method was, and the more difficult its process of practice was. Lightness Skill